El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Mifflin Township

Just visited this resturaunt this evening. I wanted to take my girlfriend out for a fun dinner to kick off her birthday weekend. Instead we got poor treatment by a staff who didn't seem to care about our experience. Things started off well enough. We sat down and got our drinks and guac relatively quickly. But that's when things went down hill. We got our food and neither of us received what we ordered. Wouldn't have been a big deal. I was supposed to get a beef, a cheese, and a chicken Enchilada. Everything I got was chicken. She was supposed to get guac and pico with her meal and instead got beans. We were then ignored by our server for half an hour. He didn't come by to check on us once. Therefore we had no opportunity to let him know that our meals were incorrect. In my experience it's customary for the staff to check on their table after the food arrives to make sure that everything is satisfactory. We did not get that service. My girlfriend even vocally tried to get his attention and she was ignored. At first we just continued to eat. I told myself it's not his fault, the kitchen screwed up, not him. And then I started coming across gray meat in the chicken. So I stopped eating and started losing patience. When we were finally able to get him to the table I told him "look the food was fine. But we didn't get what we ordered and we want a check." And i explained the problems with the meal to him. All we got was a cursory "ok" and he brought a check. He really DID NOT CARE. He had zero concern for our displeasure. It was customer service so poor it was mind boggling. We then sat for an additional 5 minutes until we waved who we assumed was the manager down and explained that we were waiting a long time to have our check taken care of. He saw our plates were still full of food and ignored that fact and promptly had our bill finalized. He also didn't seem to care about our visible frustration. I feel like the 10% tip I left was far too generous but couldn't, in my core, bring myself to tip less to a server who doesnt make a ton who at least brought us guac and a round of drinks (could have ordered another had he cared to check on us AT ALL during the forty minutes we sat there twiddling our thumbs and venting to each other about the staff who cared not one iota for their customers). We went from sitting down in a restaurant that we both enjoy coming to from time to time, getting excited about the refreshed menu, and talking about telling my mom who is a fan of the restaurant, to having the singular worst dining experience that either of us have ever had and vowing to never go back to a place that has zero care for the customer experience that keeps their lights on. Zero out of ten. Would...

My brother and I had a horrible experience yesterday at this restraunt. I have been there several times to eat and today is the worst experience I have ever had at a restraunt before. I was seated in a booth by the hostess and not one server came to my booth for a fifteen minute period. There were three other tables seated after me and they all received service before me. The table off to the left even mentioned to the server that we were there prior to them so take care of us first. He looked back at us and turned around and continued to take their order. After a few more minutes passed a server finally came to our table. "I said well it's about time" his response was "we're busy in here" "I responded and said "your not that busy because you helped the three tables around us that were seated after us." He asked if we had chips and salsa well obviously we don't because you don't see them on the table. My brother asked the server for a menu on three seperate occasions and on the third time was told one menu per table. When we looked over to our left that table had two menus. It was at that point I asked to speak to the manager. After waiting another six minutes she finally shows up. We tell her how horrible the service is and that we requested a second menu three times and the server refused to provide one. I told her we were seated for fifteen minutes without service and the tables around us that were seated after us received service first. She never offered an apology for the lack of service and it wasn't until we told her based upon how we are being treated that are not spending our money in here and will go somewhere else. Then she wanted to get a menu for my brother. Saying you have to request a second menu in which he explained to her he had asked for one three times and the server failed to bring one. She said we never have problens in here our service is great. Well not today and you didn't try to correct anything. I guess they felt we were going to be a problem because we looked up and had three people at our table. Why does it take three people to address the concerns of two men? I'll never spend another dollar at an El Vaquero restraunts again and I'll definitely be escalating this issue a step further based upon how we were treated. You can filll in your own blanks and figure out what that means. I wish I could rate them with no stars. You can tell how much a company cares about their customers ot if they really want your business based upon conflict resolution. I'll definitely be contacting, the Better Business Bureau, Attorney General , El Vaqueros corporate office and a few...

the food is always delicious at this location— that is the ONLY reason I still came back. the service was slow and it seems as if the servers discriminate against certain black people. they take forever to greet/seat you. When they do seat, they don’t bring water so you’re stuck at the table with the dry tortilla chips the older lady brings you and no bev. they rush you when you order as well. as we were leaving & paid with cash that we left at the table along with a great tip, the server screams “WAIT DID U PAY” in front of the restaurant. We know for a fact it was because of the stereotypical black narrative that we steal or don’t tip well. The server could have simply looked at the table and saw the money himself instead of assuming and embarrassing us. We did not appreciate that at all and I took note for next time. I spoke to my mom who has been a regular at El Vaquero for years and even she says she feels the same way about how they treat people of color (black people). So I took mental note and decided to try it one more time qtr see if the location was just having a bad day. but no. Past two times I came with my black friends, service was slow, not greeted, we were ID’d when getting alcoholic beverages. When I came with my white friends, who are the same age as my black ones. They did not get ID’d, they were actually greeted with a smile and a sense of urgency. Will not be returning and will be letting all of the regulars I sent over the years my past few experiences. Hopefully this location hires some new servers who...